


Rebroken/Reborn

by iceyly



Series: Nightfall [2]
Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Don't copy to another site, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-20
Updated: 2019-07-28
Packaged: 2020-07-09 11:35:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,974
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19886989
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iceyly/pseuds/iceyly
Summary: "That is not my name."---After capturing Riku and Naminé in Castle Oblivon, Zexion is tasked with bringing the both of them into the structure of the Organization.The process doesn't go quite as smoothly as planned.





	1. Iteration I

**Author's Note:**

> First of all, welcome to the first (posted) (teaser) story of my very, very new AU series! The main series won't be posted until November, since it is part of the Kingdom Hearts Big Bang, which I'm very excited about!
> 
> I know this probably seems confusing at first, but I'll post some notes about the premise of the AU in the notes at the end!
> 
> Please, enjoy!

He wakes to a pounding headache and a throat so dry that the first breath he’s aware of comes out more a rasp than anything else.

It’s a bit of a struggle to get his limbs in order and push himself into sitting up, especially while the cold, bright light in the room keeps blinding him.

He flinches when a haughty voice speaks up: “Good morning, XV.”

His head snaps in the direction of the voice, eyes narrowing at the young man that is sitting in the chair by the side of his bed. For all that he can’t place that man… between the grey hair falling in his face, and the large tome he balances on his tights, he looks familiar.

(Had he just been called fifteen? Like the number? What kind of name–)

And not just the person by his bedside… the white walls of the room he’s found himself him… the blonde girl in in the corner-chair, who is doing her very best not to meet his eyes…

It’s all familiar, but somehow, he can’t–

“I expect you have a great many questions”, the man at his bedside says, unaware of his thoughts, even though he hadn’t said anything so far, and while he does have questions… he can’t trust this person.

Somehow, he knows he can’t trust this guy, whoever he–

The pounding in his head only intensifies at this thought, so he reaches up burrowing his hands in his hair. Something here is wrong, something…

The door bangs loudly as someone enters, an also familiar looking figure with long black braids who frowns down at him, then towards the man at his bedside. “So, he’s woken at last, Zexion? Saïx says that the Superior is growing impatient.”  
  
_Zexion_.

(“Opposing us is a waste of your talents,” the Nobody had said, sighing disappointedly when Riku had broken the bargain they had forced him into at sword point.)  
  
“Rather, he is the one growing impatient, no Xaldin?”   
  
**Xaldin**.

(“At least the boy has some fight in him,” the older Nobody had noted as he had stood before him, when he had been exhausted from his attempt to escape this castle.)  
  
“We shall let him stew in that for a little while longer. There is nothing for us to worry, so long we have Naminé here.”  
  
**_Naminé_**.

(The ‘key’ to controlling Sora, Zexion had called her, and now he recalls how she had pleaded for him to let her return to Sora, how she had said she had promised _something_ –)  
  
For a second a small cry escapes him as he fists his hands in his hair, his breath shaking – for a second the inside of his head feels like a rubber band snapping back into shape, puzzle pieces lining up one after another and falling into place. His friends, Sora and Kairi. The King. His mistakes, his attempts to correct them–

From the corner of his eye, he sees Naminé tense, her eyes wide as she watches him.

Unaware of this, Zexion turns towards him. “Are you all right, XV?”  
  
“That–” Riku gasps, his voice tight with anger. “–is not my name!”

He doesn’t waste another second to roll out of the bed, the Soul Eater slapping against his palm before his feet hit the ground. A yell rips from his throat as he doesn’t heed the sting in his left calf as he pushes forward, ignoring the pain in favor of swinging his sword at Zexion.

From the corner of his eye he sees Xaldin’s lances appear above him, but he hardly spares them any mind, even as the first one narrowly graces his cheek when it strikes down at him, both of his hands gripping around the sword as he prepares himself to fight or die–

“ ** _STOP_**!”

_\--- to be continued ---_


	2. Iteration III

He wakes to a needling headache and a throat so dry that the first breath he’s aware of comes out more a rasp than anything else.

It takes a moment for him to just open his eyes and when he does, he stares at the stark white ceiling, only blinking when the bright, cold light starts to hurt his eyes.

It’s a bit of a struggle to get his limbs in order and push himself into sitting up, a frown tugging at his lips when he spots a grey-haired man sitting in the chair at his bedside and tenses when that man greets him with almost wary voice: “Good morning, XV.”

“…Morning,” he – Fifteen? Is that his name? It’s not really familiar… but it’s not unfamiliar either… – XV(?) mumbles, lacking for anything else to reply with.

There is something about this man, the needling ache in his head seems to say, something that he should know…

“I expect you have a great many questions,” the grey-haired man continues, his voice sounding now a little more at ease.

“…Yes,” XV(?) says after a moment, one hand reaching up to rub at his temples. After a moment, he admits: “…So many that I don’t really know where to start.”

“Then, how about I explain your situation?” the grey-haired man says, and after a moment of hesitation XV(?) finds himself nodding, as he draws his legs closer in order to cross them. Then he hisses as pain shoots through his left calf and draws away the sheet covering him to see that it has been bandaged. Similarly, his right cheek hurts, so XV(?) reaches up, frowning as his fingers touch against a band-aid.

Huh. He doesn’t remember getting hurt…

But then again… even when trying to recall his own name, his mind comes up blank. Distantly, XV(?) thinks, he should be far more alarmed by that than he is right now.

The man at his bedside – Zexion, as he introduces himself, and at that the needling stab in his head gets more intense for a moment – tells him that he has lost his memories to the Darkness after using too much of its power and that this place here belongs to the Organization XIII.

(The needling pain throbs.)

That the Organization had saved him and would like to help him learn to control his powers… so that he can help them in exchange. XV(?) frowns faintly but accepts what he is told, nods and sleeps when Zexion gets up to ‘leave him to rest again’.

The needling stab of pain has grown fainter on the next day, when he is brought before another Nobody, a tall guy with long black braids that fall over his shoulders. Zexion calls him Xaldin and says that once XV(?) has been up for a few days he is to train with the other, so that they can assess his level of skill.

Then, Zexion leads both of them into another white room, where a blonde girl sits at a table, a pencil in her hand… though she lowers it when XV(?) enters the room after Zexion.

(The needling pain stabs into his head all of sudden, when he looks at her.)

Even though she’s stopped drawing and has turned towards them, she refuses to meet his eyes.

“This is Naminé,” Zexion introduces her, and XV(?) wordlessly takes note of the way her hands clench in her lap.

Even as Zexion keeps talking, explaining Naminé’s role in the Organization, XV(?) just steps closer to her chair, peering over her shoulder to see what she had been drawing.

His breath catches in his throat as he takes in the picture of three children together at the beach, his heart pounding in his ears as he studies the trio; a redheaded girl and two boys, one with silver and one with wild brown hair.

He slowly reaches up, tugging faintly at the silver strands of his own hair as Naminé gasps at his side, and ignores the way her eyes widen–

He knows these people. The red-haired girl and the brown-haired boy–

In his ears, he hears the sound of waves rolling against the shore, and he shakes his head sharply. He needs to get a grip, but those two children… he knows–

(“So, suppose you get to another world?” a girls voice rings in his head, a faint laugh escaping her before she continues: “What would you do there?”)

_Kairi._

(The girl that he would give his Heart to in the span of a breath, whom he had walked the path of Darkness for, so intent on giving her back her Heart, when in truth it was his own fault that–)

He swallows and focuses on the boy, ignoring Zexion’s sharp call for him to return to heel – they were three, three children on the beach, three children that crossed the wall of the worlds, three of them who had dared to dream–

(“But how far could a raft take us?” a different voice, a boy, asks worriedly, and it makes Riku imagine brown wild hair and far too large shoes digging into the sand, as they race at side by side with his own.)

**_Sora._ **

(The boy he has competed with his whole life, the Light to his own Darkness; the person who he had thought had betrayed him – it had been so easy to imagine, so easy to allow Maleficent’s honey-poisoned words to take hold, but in the end it had been him that had betrayed his friends, hadn’t it, he had been the one who’d become selfish and–)

That’s right.

The two are Kairi and Sora, his friends, he thinks as speechless as the pieces fall back into place properly all at once. And he is–

“XV!” calls Zexion, his earlier irritation replaced with wariness. “Come here already, will you?”

“That–” Riku growls as he turns to glare at the Nobody. “–is not my name!”

This time, he doesn’t even bother to go for Zexion – he already knows that Xaldin will intercept him before he gets even close to his comrade, so Riku turns his wrist to call out the Soul Eater, Darkness crackling under his palm before his trusty sword falls into his hand, and rushes at the taller Nobody.

“This again, boy? You should know better than to think you can best _me_ by now!” Xaldin sneers as his lances appear around him, a strong gust of wind almost stopping Riku in his sprint, but even if he can’t reach Xaldin or Zexion right now… he does have his own ace up his sleeve.

He exhales slowly and pays no mind to the way his shadow darkens in the cold light of the Castle That Never Was right before the Guardian rises right out of it, its breath brushing over his shoulder before it settles to watch his back.

“Summoning that thing won’t save you,” Xaldin says, and twirls the lance in his right hand before sending it flying at Riku. He dodges to the side, smiling faintly when the Guardian grabs the lance out of the air, then tosses it right back towards Xaldin.

Even if he doubts that Xaldin would be so careless to let himself be wounded by his own weapon… the taunt is clear. A second later, Riku has slipped through between the lances and right inside Xaldin’s guard, a yell ripping at his throat as he prepares his strike–

Suddenly, stinging pain stabs up his left leg as his injured calf gives out under the strain of battle. The Guardian places itself in front of him like a shield, ready to take the brunt of Xaldin’s counter move. But rather than strike down, Xaldin jumps back and rearranges his lances before him, Riku’s eyes widening when he sees the dragon-like shape they have formed and senses the energy gathered at their tips, ready to be released.

Strong as the Guardian might be, it won’t be able to shield him from all of that–

“ ** _STOP_**!”

_\--- To Be Continued ---_

**Author's Note:**

> As said, this is a teaser-slash-missing scene of the main series – for the premise to make sense keep following things in mind:
> 
> \- Zexion and Lexaeus team up on Riku in Castle Oblivion  
> – As a result from their confrontation, Riku gains the powers of Ansemnort, but he and Naminé are ultimately captured and taken to The Castle That Never Was.  
> – Riku and Naminé attempt an escape, but are stopped by Zexion and Xaldin. During the following fight, Riku is injured by Xaldin, and Zexion manipulates Naminé into breaking Riku's memory.
> 
> As said, the main story won't be posted until November, but I'll post the rest of the missing scene throughout the next month and may also write and post other "missing scenes" that don't I couldn't find space for in the main series until it's time to put up the main story. :333
> 
> Please, consider leaving a kudo and/or a comment!


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